Indifference
by snowflakey
Summary: USED TO BE CALLED BEST ENEMIES. The opposite to love is not hate, but indifference. A LilyJames fic. - paused-
1. Chapter One

Indifference. (Unless anybody else can think up a better title…)

By snowflakey

Chapter one (The chapter in which some characters are introduced)

For any normal fifteen year old, going back to school was something that loomed miraculously close as the summer holidays passed. However, for a certain seven young men and women, all completely different in character and physique, September the first could not have come fast enough.

"Mother! Look!" A girl with long, wavy red hair rushed down the long marble staircase clutching a piece of yellowed parchment in one hand, and a shiny red and gold badge in the other.

"I've been made a prefect!"

Watching Lily Evans that morning, one would have thought that she had the perfect life. She was a beautiful, petite girl with long, red hair, green eyes, and a complexion that many girls would sell their souls for. She was a top student at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in Gryffindor, by far the best house, renowned for its bravery, she had many friends, and, to top it all off, she had just become a fifth year prefect. Sounds good, doesn't it?

But things are never quite as good as they seem. Lily's mother entered the hallway, with a torn up bundle of papers in her hand.

_Fabulous._ Lily thought sarcastically. _I'm gonna get it now._

She winced, preparing herself for the entourage of screeching words that were sure to come.

"Just WHAT do you think you are trying to do, young lady? Going through MY mail in order to MALICIOUSLY REMOVE A CRUCIAL LETTER offering you the CAREER OF A LIFETIME!"

Lily snorted; a modelling contract was hardly the career of a lifetime. To some girls, perhaps, but not to Lily.

Lillian Marie Evans was about as far away from a 'girly girl' as one could get. To put it bluntly, she would much rather have been born a boy. When given the option, she would wear boy's clothes, play boys sports, and in general, act like a boy. Unfortunately, in the large, spacious Evans mansion, she was not given the option. However, she did try her hardest.

Her mother's one dream, apart from having Lily marry into a filthy rich family, was for her to be a supermodel. Anyone that looked at Lily knew she wouldn't have any trouble achieving this dream on her looks alone, but it was definitely not something on Lily's to-do list.

Donna Evans dragged Lily kicking (literally) and screaming obscenities (also literally) all over London to find the person that would do her daughter 'justice' in the modelling industry.

Mrs. Evans only had one other daughter, Petunia, whom she much preferred to Lily. To Donna, Petunia was the perfect daughter. Petunia went to a normal, respectable school and had normal, respectable friends (in Donna's opinion, anyway). But there was no chance that Petunia would ever follow her mother's footsteps down the catwalk. Her looks weren't going to attract any filthy rich men, either; so Donna focused her ambitions upon Lily by stealing all her hair elastics so she had to wear her hair out, putting only dresses in Lily's wardrobes and not letting her out of the house until she walked 'gracefully' towards the front door. Basically, Mrs. Evans did everything she could to stamp out any boyishness (yes, it is a word) that Lily had in her. Petunia was deeply jealous of Lily's looks and talents and thus hated her, and Colin Evans was only interested in trying to persuade his daughter into duplicating money illegally for him. 

You can see why Lily was unhappy at the Evan's residence. 

Her mother continued to rant and rave

"And so poor, KIND Mr. Allen MOST GENEROUSLY writes offering YOU a modelling contract on the basis of the photos I sent him – something most girls only DREAM about and you TEAR IT UP and THROW IT AWAY!! Where have I failed as a mother? Where? It's lucky that dear Ferguson noticed it when he was taking out the rubbish."

Lily scowled; the butler, Ferguson, was a nosy git in her opinion. She had caught him looking through her desk drawers on more than one occasion, and had a sneaking suspicion that it was on her mothers orders, which didn't help. 

"I will telephone Mr. Allen NOW and you WILL go to him and pose tomorrow. You will come home EVERY single school holidays and do more photographs. Now is NOT the time to decide to be a rebellious teenager!"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE A FRICKIN' MODEL!" Lily yelled, facing her mother defiantly. "I WANT TO BE AN AUROR!"

Her mother, who had opened her mouth to speak, shut it tightly, turned on her heel and left the room, knocking a small tawny owl out of the way in the process. Lily grabbed the envelope that the owl was carrying and ripped it open, desperate to hear from anybody in magical community.

_Dearest Lilykins, _

Lily frowned at the nickname; she had made it her lifetime job to stamp out any nick-name she could find, unfortunately for her, her friends made it THEIR lifetime job to see to it that they make as many as possible up. And Lily's name allowed for a lot of 'room for improvement'.

_How's your holiday? Hope it's better than mine! My parents have had another huge fight, and my dad's moved out, for good probably, so it's just Mum, Darren and me. Say, can you be at Fortescue's at __10:30__ tomorrow to get your school stuff? I know it's early but I don't think I can go another three weeks without seeing you and Hails! Write back A.S.A.P._

_xox__, Shelly._

Lily grinned, looking forward to seeing her two best friends, Michelle Finley and Hayley Brooks again. Completely forgetting her mother's plans for her the next day (not that she cared in the least), she quickly scrawled a 'yes' with her biro, gave the parchment back to the patiently waiting owl, and watched it fly out the window, wishing it was her. Reminded by the thought of her miraculously turning into an owl, she rushed upstairs to continue her Animagus potion, hoping to have it ready by the beginning of the school year.

***At the Brooks Household***

"But Mum, this means a lot to me! I really want to go!"

"I've told you, you're grounded! You were forbidden to play any pranks on your brother, but you broke the rules and you have to accept the consequences of your actions!"

"But if I'd known that you weren't going to let me go tomorrow I wouldn't have done it in the first place!"

"Well you'll just have to think about that next time you're thinking of doing something wrong, won't you?"

Lost for words, Hayley, or Hails Brooks stared angrily at her mother, and with a flick of her long blonde plait, left the room, slamming the kitchen door behind her with such force that the teapot rattled. Sighing, Mrs. Brooks wiped her hands on a tea towel and prepared to go out to dinner.

_I can't believe she's not letting me go_ thought Hayley angrily as she paced her room, looking for a way out of her punishment. _He needed a bath anyway. Okay, he didn't need a mud bath, but still…_

Her bright blue eyes fell upon her floor-to-ceiling length French windows leading out onto the balcony.

"Hayley, Jason, I'm going to a seminar, alright? I'll be back before midnight," her mother yelled from downstairs.

_Stupid seminars_, Hayley thought. _She's always at one every other night. How to make more galleons, how to take care of your adolescent … geez … Although … this could be a good chance for me to make an escape…_

With a mischievous glint in her eye, Hayley began to gather the things she would need for a three-week long stay at the Leaky Cauldron. 

***Half an Hour Later…..***

"Ouch!" Hayley grimaced as she 'departed' the Knight Bus, in not an exactly graceful manner. So ungraceful, in fact, that she ended up in a heap on the concrete footpath outside the Leaky Cauldron. No departure from the Knight Bus was ever graceful, though. 

At least, not for Hayley. 

_Shelly could probably do it: she walks as if she's floating on air._ Gosh, she missed her friends. Cooped up in her house, grounded, and with no entertainment was enough to drive Hayley Brooks insane. That is, more insane than she was to begin with. After one small prank she wasn't even allowed to go out into her garden for the entire summer. Hayley was one of those people that just can't keep still. Literally. After eating or drinking any form of sugar she just bounced off the walls, and she loved it. She lived on a high, as did Lily and Michelle, though not quite to the same extent. Hayley smiled, thinking about tomorrow's 'reunion' and the fact that she was going back to the place she loved most, Hogwarts, in just a few weeks. She conveniently ignored the fact that she had just run away from home and her life in the next couple of summer holidays would most likely become even more unpleasant because of that.

She pushed the creaky door to the Leaky Cauldron open and peeked in. The place was positively alive, with music, dancing, and a live band up on a stage she was sure hadn't been there the last time she came. She walked in, and upon looking around for the reception table for the hotel part of the building that she had never wanted to use before, she suddenly felt a huge force come bounding into her from one side, knocking the wind out of her and upsetting her bags all across the floor, luckily, though, she somehow managed to keep herself upright.

"HAYLEY!" the high pitched and uncomfortably loud voice of Michelle Finley yelled in Hayley's ear. The latter cringed.

"Hi Shelly," Hayley responded breathlessly. "Can I breathe now?"

"Oh! Sorry," Michelle released Hayley and beamed at her. "What brings you here?"

Hayley grinned. "Got grounded. Hope Mom doesn't catch me here or I'll be in HUGE trouble,"

Michelle made tutting noises under her breath. Then a thought hit Hayley and you could almost see the light bulb above her head coming to life with a 'ding!'

"What about you? How come you're here early?"

"Aw, I had to get away from the house for a little while," said Shelly, twisting her hands awkwardly. "Mom's really stressed at the moment,"

Hayley nodded understandingly. Michelle's parents had been experiencing marital problems for quite a while now. Hayley almost wished that they would just divorce; it would save Shelly, their only child, a lot of pain.

"So, you gonna invite me to your room or not?" Hayley said; glad to have found a reason to change the subject.

"Sure, it's kind of messy, though…"

"That goes without saying." Hayley mumbled, not loud enough for her friend to hear.

Both girls picked a couple of the many bags belonging to Hayley off the polished wooden floor and headed off to the two–bedroom room already occupied by Michelle.

***Ten Minutes Later … ***

"This is an absolute PIGSTY!" exclaimed Hayley. There really wasn't any point in her saying so, though, because every single room Michelle had ever passed through always ended up looking as if an atomic bomb had hit it, several times.

"I know," she said simply, kicking a t-shirt and a pair of shoes under her bed in order to clear a space to dump Hayley's bags. "How'd you reckon Lily's holding up?"

"I dunno, but when she comes I'm sure we'll know. But for now, we need to sort out our pranking supplies before we can go shopping tomorrow. You could almost see Michelle's ears perk up.

"Did I hear somebody say 'prank'?"

"No, actually, I was speaking about the tooth fairy. OF COURSE I SAID PRANK!"

So for the rest of the night, Hayley and Michelle drank extremely large amounts of a muggle soft drink called "Fanta" that they had adopted a taste for after it was introduced to them by Lily(A/N: orange fizzy drink…mmm…) and experimented with the making of their very own dung bombs ('ten times the smell!') and the like, planning pranks for their fifth year, soon to come.

***The Next Day, The Evans Mansion (Yes, that's right, the MANSION)***

"Lilllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn! Time to get uuu-ppp! You're going to be laa-attte!" Donna yelled in a fake singsong voice, waiting for Lily to get out of bed.

The latter groaned and tumbled out of her ugly pink bed with frilly covers and stomped downstairs, not bothering to make it. That's what butlers were for, weren't they? The least she could do was make Ferguson actually work for the ridiculous amount of money he was paid. She went to pour an orange juice, but her mother came in and stopped her, looking scandalized. 

"Just WHAT do you think you're doing? You have to sign your MODELLING CONTRACT TODAY!!"

"Yeah, so?"

"So you don't EAT breakfast! It'll make you FAT and you won't get a modelling CONTRACT!" Mrs. Evans was screaming by now, and it was not a pretty sight.

"I don't even want a contract!"

Mrs. Evans came right up to Lily and looked down on her, looking particularly ferocious. "Of course you want a contract! EVERY girl wants a contract! Go and put you best pink dress on NOW! And HURRY UP!"

Lily mumbled a long string of profanity under her breath, including some 'Why the PINK?'s and went to get changed.

After an hour and a half (Lily refused to wear the low–cut, lacy pink dress that Lily's mother kept forcing on her), both mother and daughter left the house and got into the Jag, Lily in baby blue instead, and not looking happy. On the way, Mrs. Evans gave her daughter a long lecture about the proper modelling etiquette whilst Lily vowed to do exactly the opposite. Twenty minutes later (and yes, after all that fuss about the dress, they were still ten minutes early), Mr. Allen introduced himself.

"Good morning, fine Lily," he said in a smooth silky voice, attempting to kiss her hand, which she wrenched out of his grasp in disgust. Mr. Allen bore a close resemblance to one of the people she disliked most, Lucius Malfoy. "Are you ready?" Lily's mother nodded eagerly and he led the pair to what Lily assumed to be his office. 

After a long and exceedingly boring hour the youngest Evans signed the contract with her initials under her mother's watchful eye. Mr. Allen (the root of all evil, in Lily' opinion), stood up, looking very pleased with himself.

"Now, if you'll just follow me?" he gestured, his manner making the words an order rather than a question, he led Lily to the place she hated most: the dreaded photography studio.

Speaking in a quieter voice to Donna Evans, he said "She should be done in about an hour, if you'd like to stop by and pick her up then,"

"By all means," replied Donna. "Have fun Lily!" she waved and smiled, but her voice had a slightly menacing tone to it.

_An hour of this torture?_ Thought Lily. _Yeah, great fun._

***

"No, no, a little to the _left_," Although Mr. Allen ("Please call me "_Tim_", sweetheart) had only been photographing Lily for five minutes and he was quickly losing his patience. "Come on, Lily, I know you can do better than this,"

Lily scowled. _This is NOT fun!_ She thought.

"Sweetheart, I told you to SMILE! Do want to be here and enjoy yourself or not?"  
  


Stupid question, really.

"OF COURSE I DON'T WANT TO BLOODY BE HERE! WHO BLOODY WOULD? I'M WEARING A DISGUSTINGLY GIRLY DRESS, SMILING AT SOME BLOODY PLASTIC THING THAT TAKES BLOODY PHOTOS OF ME LIKE THIS FOR FUTURE BLOODY BLACKMAIL AND EMBARRASSMENT, I'M COOPED HERE FOR THE NEXT BLOODY HOUR AND YOU THINK I SHOULD BE BLOODY _ENJOYING MYSELF!?!"_

"Tim" was lost for words. 

"Uh, Sweetheart, can you just make it easier for both of us and move to the left?" He ventured timidly. "Please?"

Lily's face contorted with fury, and the camera exploded. _Oops_. She thought. _Oh well._

She made a run for it, and 'Tim' yelled out "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going home!" Lily headed for the door, wanting to make a quick getaway. 

"Oh, no, you're not," Tim Allen grabbed her forcefully by the wrist and yanked her back. As you could imagine, Lily was not exactly happy with the situation. She yanked his wrist towards her, pulling him off balance and wrestling his fat body frame to the floor. Not that it was very hard. Without a second thought, Lily raced out of the building and took a cab home, ignoring the driver's stares at her clothes. 

Once home, she grabbed her school stuff as well as her muggle money and headed to the middle of London, where she paid the driver and entered the bathroom at the Leaky Cauldron to change her clothes. 

Coming out in a tank top and cargos (just about as far away from girly as you could get), she caught sight of a tall, blonde haired girl with bright blue eyes in jeans and another girl with tanned features and sparkling brown eyes that complemented her hair (which was also brown) across the other side of the Leaky Cauldron, just about to enter Diagon Alley.

"Shelly! Hails! Wait for me!"

Not hearing her, and, because of her height, not seeing her, Lily did the only thing she could think of to get her friends' attention. She screamed, loud and clear_. Well, I got their attention_, she thought. She had also gained the attention of the rest of the pub's inhabitants, but she didn't care. 

Hey, you only live once.

"Lils! C'mon!" Lily ran up to Hayley and Michelle and engulfed them both in a bug bear hug. Well, tried to anyway, considering both were taller than her.

"How's your summer?" 

"Fun, fun, fun." Lily replied sarcastically. "You guys?"

"Almost as much fun as you!"

(A/N: Pointless dialogue: My favorite!)

After a lot of pushing and shoving, the three girls managed to get through to Diagon Alley and upon their arrival headed for their all time favorite shop: the pranking supplies shop. After spending almost all of their money there, they headed for 'lunch' at Florien Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour (mmm … ice-cream…), where after a long month of separation, they caught up with each other and talked as only girls can talk. 

Only then did it occur to Lily as to why there was so many people milling about in the Leaky Cauldron that day, waiting to get through to Diagon Alley. Fortescue's was located just opposite Gringotts, where a large, sparkling banner flying in mid–air proclaimed a "Charity Auction!"

"I wonder what they're going to be auctioning," said Michelle, voicing Lily's thoughts.

"Maybe it'll be signed Quidditch robes or something," said Hayley excitedly, bouncing up and down in her chair. Perhaps putting Fanta on her ice–cream (sometimes the girls decided to 'make their own' ice-creams) wasn't such a smart idea.

Although neither Hayley, Michelle nor Lily played for Gryffindor, as they didn't want to make the game competitive, all were avid Quidditch fans and loved to fly. They all owned broomsticks and often flew at night, over the Forbidden Forest where they could not be seen from Hogwarts castle. That was one of the reasons they had decided to try and become Animagus: to roam the school at night where they were free just to have fun and not worry about the small stuff. 

"Yeah," added Lily. "Maybe a valuable broom or something…"

In the next few minutes a short, rather overweight goblin came out and announced that the purpose charity auction was in fact to auction historical artefacts, including those of the Founders (The Founders being Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin). All profits were to go to St. Mungo's Hospital for magical maladies and injuries.

"Wow," whispered Lily, "this stuff is going to be sold for heaps!"

The auctioneer (a slightly less overweight goblin), began to introduce the items that were to be auctioned. He started off with little things, like ancient quills and jewellery. These little things, however, went for more money than what Lily's house was worth. And that was a lot of money. 

The goblin started auctioning bigger things for even bigger prices, until a large, ancient sword, with a gold handle decorated with rubies was carried out in a large glass box, resting on a blood red pillow. It was surrounded by whizzes of light that the girls recognized to be security spells and there were goblins all around the stage protecting it. Lily and her friends could not help but gasp. Although they weren't into swords and the like, they could tell how valuable this one was.

"Owned by none other than Godric Gryffindor," the goblin stated proudly.

"I'll buy it!" many people began to bid outrageous prices.

"Sorry, it's not for sale." There were many disappointed cries from the crowd, now even bigger than before.

"Why not?" another yelled.

The goblin shrugged. "It's priceless," he said simply. 

The three girls sighed in awe. The security guards began to carry the heavy-looking glass case away. That's when the crisis began.

***

A/N: Do you like it? Then REVIEW, because the more reviews I get the quicker I post.

I feel a bit bad about leaving you with a cliffy, so here's a bit of what happens next:

One of the worst crises in history occurs: a new Dark Lord accelerates to power and the only safe place is Hogwarts. But not everybody makes it … 

You know what to do … 

Luv

Snowflakey.


	2. Chatper Two

A/N: Hey people! I'm back and posting! Here's chapter 2 for you . But first - I've had a few people asking me if this is going to be one of those fanfics where somebody gets killed off every chapter. Don't worry, it won't be. I'm not planning to kill anyone else for a long while yet . *battles with self not to kill Peter* Indifference. By snowflakey Chapter 2  
  
It all happened in the blink of an eye, really. Just as the glass case was being wheeled off the stage, a series of loud, almost earsplitting popping noises began as people with black cloaks and masks appeared all over Diagon Alley. In between the crowd, in the shops, on the stage - there were so many of them they nearly outnumbered the "innocents". People began muttering in confusion, and nothing happened for almost ten seconds until one of the masked people on the stage lifted his wand to the auctioneer and cried "AVARDA KEDARVA!"  
  
A flash of green light flashed across the stage as the goblin fell.  
  
"AVARDA KEDARVA!" "AVARDA KEDARVA!"  
  
There were many more screams and cries of pain before anybody realized what was happening. Diagon Alley was under attack. The people in back cloaks were everywhere, killing people and blasting shops apart, taking no prisoners. The whole of Diagon Alley was a mass of confusion as people tried to make an escape, most of them failing. There was green smoke everywhere, making it impossible to see anything. (A/N:Then James swoops in and saves Lily, right? Wrong).  
  
Lily, Hayley and Michelle scrambled out of their seats and headed towards the back door of Fortescue's. Not before Michelle grabbed her sundae, though. Yes, that's right. Diagon Alley was under attack, people were dying all over the place, being killed by unknown people in masks, and the most important thing in the world to Michelle Finley is her triple - choc ice cream with nuts, cream and hot fudge, which she has to bring with her before she goes to safety (which is not exactly safe anyway).  
  
Once there, the girls looked around to see a few other people they didn't know there. Lily turned to Hayley and Michelle, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Although no words came out of her mouth, her face said it all. My perfect world. The place I love most, the place where I belong, is under an attack and there's nothing I can do about it.  
  
Peeking in between the swinging doors leading to the parlor, it seemed to the girls like they were doomed. There seemed to be nobody fighting the masked men (A/N: There's women in there too, but masked MEN sounds better), and they were winning the one - sided battle easily.  
  
"What happened to the Aurors?" Hayley whispered. As soon as she said it, more people - ones without masks began Apparating and trying to fight off the masked men. They seemed to be failing though, because all they were doing was trying to dodge the killing curse, which wasn't very successful. Then more people Apparated in, holding banana peels and other rubbish. "Port keys," whispered Lily. "To get us out of here,"  
  
After about ten minutes a tired - looking man with grey hair and a muggle baseball cap crept furtively towards them and whispered  
  
"C'mon, next portkey's leaving in thirty seconds," he whispered hoarsely, grabbing the closest person (which just happened to be Michelle) by the wrist and crept out, dropping to his knees and doing a belly crawl towards the front of the shop, where Lily caught sight of a crushed can of the muggle soft drink, Fanta. All of the people following the man grabbed onto it, which was quite a feat considering how small it was. "Where are we going?" a woman holding a very small child asked. The child, like many others in the small group, was silently crying.  
  
"To Hogwarts, the safest place on Earth," The man checked his wrist watch, a muggle-like version that told time. "We're leaving in five . four . three . "  
  
Lily turned around, and for a moment the smoke cleared and she saw a skull with a snake protruding from it's mouth way up in the sky, above the stage. She closed her eyes, and felt a jerk behind her navel, and when she opened them again she was in the very, very crowded Great Hall at Hogwarts. ~*~ At Hogwarts ~*~  
  
The Great Hall at Hogwarts was absolutely full of people yelling and calling out, running around in search of loved ones. It looked as though the entire wizarding population of the world was there. Well, not quite, but close enough. Lily, Hayley and Michelle looked around and saw some reunited with their families, but many more looking, eagerly scanning the people coming in by Port keys and floo powder for those they knew. The three girls joined the search for their parents, with the exception of Lily, who knew her mother would not have been in Diagon Alley that day. Hayley and Michelle, however, did search but due to the number of people in the Great Hall, the search turned out to be fruit less. After about half an hour, the new arrivals of people seeking refuge at Hogwarts became less and less frequent, at which time Dumbledore stood up. Because of the large amount of people (and noise) it took a few minutes for the hall to fall silent, but as soon as they realized Dumbledore was about to speak, they shut up. When Dumbledore began to speak, there was sadness in his eyes, and he looked old; older than he ever had. It was then that the girls, Lily in particular, realized that the Headmaster of Hogwarts was not, in fact, perfect, but human.  
  
Albus Dumbledore was definitely a role model and mentor for the Hogwarts students. Unlike most of the staff, the students felt as though Dumbledore understood them, and that helped a great deal in the closure of the gap between staff and students. The magical community had a great amount of respect for him, and they had reason to.  
  
"Today," he said. "There has been a huge tragedy in Diagon Alley. Many of our friends and family have been injured or killed today and the remainder of us are assembled here. It is imperative, in these times, that we stick together as a group and fight back as one, because it is the only way we will defeat the enemy.  
  
But firstly, these attackers, or, in the words of a muggle, "terrorists", have been overthrown by our Aurors and there are none left in Diagon Alley. However," he added with a twinkle in his eyes "I am correct in assuming that many of you will be in no hurry to return."  
  
Nobody laughed.  
  
"As of yet, the ministry has no information about these attackers, and surprisingly, they have left little trace. However, all of those with family in Diagon Alley today, even those with muggle or half blood parents, have been automatically notified by Express Owl and should all be here by now. I am sure you are all eager to find your families, so to speed the process up can I ask that all those with their families leave and take seats outside on the grounds until further notice. This way it will be easier for those left to locate their relatives. These people can step up to the microphone - "  
  
"What microphone?" hissed Hayley to Lily and Michelle. As she spoke, a microphone on a stand appeared in front of Dumbledore and he leaned down slightly in front of it and continued.  
  
"- As to make it more productive. As soon as this process is finished we can all come back in and announcements can be made. Thankyou,"  
  
People began to move, either out of the Hall in groups or in singles or pairs towards the microphone, where a long line was already forming. Dumbledore suddenly stepped back and said  
  
"Oh, and one more thing you may want to discuss with others whilst you are waiting outside. Any students of Hogwarts who now feel unsafe in the wizarding world are welcome to stay at Hogwarts in their usual dormitories until school begins. Thankyou." Once again, he stepped away.  
  
Hayley and Michelle got in line to ask for their parents. Although neither thought their parents were in Diagon Alley that day, they wanted to find them as to reassure their elders that they were okay. Lily, however, moved automatically to the place that she usually ate her meals in at school time at the Gryffindor table and sat down. She knew that her mother wouldn't come to check on her well being, not after what she had done that morning. Only then she started to feel the slightest bit of guilt over running away from the photographer, and letting her mother down. Then she remembered "Tim" and quickly swallowed those thoughts. She had not the slightest bit of remorse over blowing up his camera, even though she had done so unintentionally. She turned her thoughts instead, to the raised platform in which the teachers at their meals at during term time.  
  
A man was awkwardly leaning into the microphone, obviously not sure how to use this muggle contraption. He jumped, startled, when he heard his own voice magnified.  
  
"I'm looking for my wife, Lucinda Longbottom, and my two sons, Frank and Theodore."  
  
The two boys piped up, yelling "Dad! Over here!" and the man sighed with relief upon the sight. His wife, however, was not found, and it was ascertained that she had been killed while looking for new robes. Lily, for one of the few and far between times in her life, wanted to cry. Cry for the man and his two children, left widowed and motherless, and for all the others she knew would have similar stories. Only then did it hit her the seriousness of the attack, and just how many people were massacred. This continued on for quite a time, some leaving happily with relatives whilst others turned away and left the hall sadly, many orphaned or alone in the world. Lily perked up a bit when Michelle stepped up.  
  
"I'm looking for my mom, Amanda Finley?" "Over here, Honey!" A woman Lily recognized as Amanda Finley jumped up. Michelle ran over and engulfed her mother in a hug. Her mother, equally relieved, hugged her back. With a wave at Lily and a thumbs up sign to Hayley (for luck), Michelle exited the hall with her mother.  
  
Hayley, who had been standing in line behind her, stepped up to the microphone.  
  
"I'm looking for my mom, Catherine Brooks?"  
  
Silence.  
  
Finally, a man that Lily didn't recognize spoke up. He would have been in his forties, hair going grey, with a lanky frame.  
  
"She died, Hayley. She died looking for you."  
  
Hayley stepped back, ashen faced. She stood there for a few moments, but it seemed like and eternity.  
  
She's dead. Thoughts were racing through her head. She died because of me Hayley turned and ran out of the hall, pushing through the crowds with Lily hot on her heels. Running out of the hall, Lily pummeled straight into a tall, muscular figure. She looked up and groaned.  
  
"What's the matter Evans; aren't you pleased to see I made it out alive?" came the overconfident and egotistical voice of James H. Potter.  
  
"I'm overcome with joy," Lily replied sarcastically.  
  
They deeply disliked each other, to say the least. James Potter lived the kind of life where the girls look like Barbie's and the boys drive Ferraris (well, the broomstick version, anyway, if you can imagine that). Yep, James Potter was as rich as they come. He was richer, in fact, than the Minister for Magic, as he would one day inherit the Potter family fortune. On top of all that, he was good-looking, athletic and popular, and he knew it, too. Lily and her friends were just about the only people (besides the Slytherins, that is) that disliked James and his group, the "Marauders" and stood up to them. "So, Potter, did you inherit your parent's fortune today?" Lily asked in a hopeful voice. After all, if James couldn't have died, the next best thing would be his parents or friends, right?  
  
"No, actually," James grinned. "The were shopping in Doulton Square at the time,"  
  
Lily scowled; Doulton Square was the uptown version of Diagon Alley, where everything was fancier and more expensive. It would be typical for the Potters to be there at the time of the attack.  
  
"Feel lucky, Potter," Lily growled lamely. "Not all of us have the perfect life like you,"  
  
James was speechless. He could us many words to describe his life, but perfect definitely wasn't on the list. He stood there for at least twenty seconds before he could open his mouth to speak. For that twenty seconds, Lily was glaring at him and sarcastically mouthing the words "C'mon Potter, open your mouth and s-p-e-a- k. You know you want to ... anytime now ... "  
  
"My life is not perfect! You don't know anything about me!"  
  
People began edging away; Potter temper versus Evans temper was something the sane portion of Hogwarts avoided at all costs. However, the rest of the Marauders were nowhere near sane, and therefore felt obliged to join in on the fight that was sure to erupt. "Why, hello, Lily dearest," came the smooth, charming voice of Sirius Black that did absolutely nothing to charm Lily Evans. In fact, in amplified her rage even more (A/N: see why Harry gets so angry in book 5? He inherited it from his parents).  
  
Sirius Black could easily be mistaken for James's twin brother. He looked like James, except with longer hair and a slightly lankier frame, he acted like James, and even ate like James. The only thing missing was the genetic link. The two were best friends and most likely the biggest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen.  
  
Behind Sirius, or "Padfoot" as he was known to his close friends, was another quarter of the famous Marauder gang. Remus Lupin, accompanied by his long - time girlfriend, Bridget Combs, came into view. Remus had light brown hair and tired grey eyes that gave him an aura of mystery. Bridget, who was entering fifth year like Lily, Hayley and Michelle shared the girls' dorm with them, and Lily found her to be a very nice person. Pity she spent so much time with the Marauders. She was among those who put a lot of work into their studies but still managed to have a life outside of the library. She was a quiet, soft spoken girl who Lily found to have a strong sense of justice and faith. She had light brown hair, green eyes not unlike Lily's and a beautiful smile. Bridget was perfectly suited to the quiet, thoughtful Remus. Well, quiet and thoughtful in comparison to James and Sirius, anyway.  
  
James was a born leader, and if James was the king then Sirius was the court jester, and Remus was the adviser who managed to keep them from being expelled. Those three, along with the presence of Peter Pettigrew, ruled the Hogwarts popularity ladder. Peter was very quiet and never said very much worth listening to. While James, Sirius and Remus were all fairly tall, Peter was shorter than Lily, which was quite a feat. He was a chubby boy with dirty blonde hair and watery blue eyes.  
  
As you would have noticed by now, Remus was the only member of the Marauders that Lily halfway liked. However, she could probably learn to live with Sirius and Peter if it weren't for Potter and his alter ego.  
  
"Shut up Black/Sirius!" James and Lily snapped at the same time, consequently glaring at each other. As much as they hated it, they were so very similar to each other, making their personalities clash horribly, coming out with the same thing at the same time, which they very much disliked. Sirius, Remus and Bridget, however, found it highly amusing. "I can not believe you, Evans," James continued, his voice rising. "You have the stupidity to come and tell me that I have the perfect life when you know absolutely nothing about me!"  
  
Lily matched his shouting by her screaming.  
  
"I know you're an egoistical idiot who got lucky, Potter. That's all I need to know!"  
  
"YOU CAN'T TALK EVANS! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE AN ORPHAN LIVING OUT ON THE STREETS OR ANYTHING, EITHER!"  
  
"YEAH, WELL, ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS IS CLOSE TO IT!"  
  
At that point Lily remembered exactly why she had run out of the hall and rushed out of the castle to find her almost - orphaned friends, leaving a very angry James Potter to his thoughts, who stood there looking like an idiot for another twenty seconds before Sirius spoke.  
  
"I have to say, Prongs, she was pretty off - base,"  
  
"Of course she was off base! She knows absolutely nothing about me!" James whined. How would Evans know anything. Sure, on the outside his life might have been perfect, but on the inside he was very unhappy. His life might be perfect on the outside, but inside he was very unhappy. James' parents were both "unspeakables" and worked in the Department of Mysteries at the ministry, leaving them very little, often no time to be with James, their only son. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Potter's responsibilities at the Ministry meant that all they did was make sure James was alive and well and speak to Dumbledore before leaving the continue whatever they were doing beforehand.  
  
Even when James came home in the summer holidays his parents weren't there. Sure, they bought him expensive broomsticks and let him have friends over to stay whenever he like, but James lacked the loving upbringing that most children took for granted.  
  
Sirius practically lived at the Potter's during the summer; he was considered as the black sheep of his family, and, like James, enjoyed being at Hogwarts more than anything else.  
  
Remus Lupin was a werewolf, and thus found life at home very difficult. His mother was a pureblood, but his dad was a muggle, and easily influenced by his wife's fear of werewolves. As a result, Remus preferred to spend as much time as humanly possible out of the house: he hated how his parents walked around on eggshells whenever he was near, as though he was some kind of Jekyll/Hyde character that would kill them any minute. Peter Pettigrew, who was in Sweden all of the holidays with his parents, was equally unhappy. Although he went to Hogwarts, he was so close to being a squib that it wasn't even funny. It was to Lucius Malfoy, but that was beside the point. Peter's parents were both pure bloods and disappointed over and over again regarding their son's abysmal magical skills. James, Sirius and Remus tutored him for all it was worth, but after five years his marks had shown no visible signs of improvement.  
  
For entirely different reasons these seven teenagers (Lily, Hayley, Michelle, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter) were all unhappy within themselves, and longed for Hogwarts. Although all of their parents (minus Hayley - her father had left after Jason had been born - she was now an orphan unless her father could be found) had survived the worst attack to the wizarding world in many years, they all felt as though there was something missing .  
  
~*~  
  
After quite a while of searching, Lily found Hayley down by the Great Lake, watching "Bob" the giant squid. Hayley had her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself. Lily, having absolutely no idea what to do, awkwardly plopped down next to her. The sun was high in the sky (A/N: Hey! I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!) and when Hayley turned her head towards Lily she had to squint to be able to see. She spoke with tears in her eyes, a rarity, her voice wavering.  
  
"She died because of me, Lils. My dad is God knows where and Jason and I are all alone because I just had she sudden urge to sneak out of the house,"  
  
Lily felt so bad for Hayley at the moment, but couldn't think of what to say. So she went with the "Don't blame yourself" theme.  
  
"It's not your fault, Hayley; you couldn't have known,"  
  
"But if I hadn't-"  
  
"Stop," Lily interrupted firmly. "You can't change anything now except to try and make sure Jason is okay," "He's at a friend's place," Hayley replied dully, turning once more to stare across the lake. She looked so different now - so life less, so defeated. Lily thought back to the moment when Hayley had been crushed beyond belief, when that man had said "Hayley, she's dead. She died looking for you." That man ... who was he?  
  
"Hayley?" Lily questioned.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Who was that man?"  
  
"Which man?"  
  
"The one that told you .. you know ." Lily trailed off, not wanting to put her friend's trauma into words, as if they both avoided saying those words "Your mother's dead" one or the other would wake up and find it all a nightmare, something to laugh over at breakfast the next morning. Unfortunately, it was too real to be a dream.  
  
"I have no idea ." ~*~ You like? Then tell me so! In upcoming chapters: A prank on Snape gone wrong (not the Animagi one) the girls become Animagi, Sirius with detention in the library, and plot development. Also, I update on the Harry Potter Boards more often than I do here, so if you want to visit you can see all the new updates before they appear here. Thanks.  
  
Author thankyous: Kitty7285: Thank you sooooo much for reviewing and telling me what was wrong with it! I hope you like it better now . Yeah I know Lily's parents liked her . call it artistic license on my part! But you know what was weird? In the fifth book prefects can't take house points but in the second Percy Weasley docks 10 points from Gryffindor when he catches Ron and Harry coming out of moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Strange . The Paper: Thanks for your opinion. Hope you're enjoying this. Trapped In Icy Flame: Yeah, starborn does get on my nerves sometimes :P Thanks for reviewing. Chocolate Taco: Thanks! Hope you like this! Lil K: Continuing . hope you're enjoying this! Thanks for reviewing! And by the way, I love your story so far =) princess emily: Like, Thanks! Alya1989262: Yup, that's me! Check out her new chapter and thanks for reviewing! Erica the Flying Tree: Charlie's Angel's like, huh? Hmmm . I might have to change that . VoldemortsIllegitimateChild: Yeah, I'd be embarrassed, too! Thank you for reviewing! I like having characters that other people can relate to. Angel Flower: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it! Larka: Thanks! Hope you like this chapter! Tinkerbell: Hey tinx! Thanks for reviewing! vamperfly: Aww don't cry! Update on the way! Thanks for reviewing! tanx: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I might check that out . I haven't really had time lately what with getting this chappie up but I will! Liz411: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, my friend made up the title . it confuses me too! That's all folks! Tata! Luv snowflakey. 


	3. Chapter 3

**I/A/N (Important Author's Note): The title of this story has changed! I finally thought up a better one! In case you didn't notice, it's called _Indifference … see if you can guess why. I changed the earlier chapters so now they all have the same title._**

Best Enemies

By snowflakey

Chapter 3

"You're a genius, Lily Evans," the redhead told herself as she walked as quickly as she could without looking stupid to Dumbledore's office. She already knew where it was, having had visited it many times during her five years at Hogwarts for various reasons. Well, all for the same reason, but it was a different prank every time, thank you very much. The password was never hard to guess, and after naming many different varieties of muggle and magical lollies, gained access to the spiral staircase leading up to Professor Dumbledore's office.

Lily hesitated outside the door for a moment, and then knocked softly. Nobody answered, so she knocked a little louder. After a while, she put her ear to the door and listened, but heard only the mumbling of the portraits as they either slept or chattered. _Of course Dumbledore isn't here. _she told herself. _He's got other important things to do._ She turned and headed back downstairs, resolving to come back later.   
  
But she didn't have the chance to do this, however, for quite some time. Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen, either in the corridors or at the staff table in the Great Hall. Lily and her friends contended themselves by lazing the days away outside, all having decided to stay at Hogwarts over the summer, having picnics and the like in front of the Lake, and spending quality time with "Bob" (The giant squid). After a few days Hayley returned to her normal self, laughing and joking, but sometimes it seemed a bit fake, as though she was still grieving inside.   
  
Although the girls were relaxed and lazy during the day, at night was an entirely different story. For their own amusement and a challenge, they had decided to become Animagi, and all they needed to do to finish was add the final ingredients to the potion, which had been brewing over the holidays in the fourth/fifth year girl's dormitories (A/N: in my fanfic they keep the same dorm room for all 7 years. Call it artistic license.) . After drinking the potion, if all went well they would each perform the charm that enabled them to turn into the animal they wished. However, to the normal, sane person, the risk of becoming an Animagi at fifteen was greater than the reward. However, Lily, Hayley and Michelle weren't normal or sane, and were therefore eager to finish. For this very reason, they were looking up a spell which would enable them to become invisible for a short period of time to find the book again, which they had returned to the "Restricted Section" of the library at the end of the previous year.   
  
"I haven't been able to find the one we wanted," Lily reported to her friends at dinner about three days after the attacks. "But I did find one that will do the same thing. It's called the Chameleon charm, where we can blend into the walls,"   
  
"Cool," Hayley and Michelle   
  
At that moment, the prank they had spent the morning rigging up was set into action, and the greater portion of the hall burst into laughter.

The thing that the greater portion of the hall was laughing at was the Slytherin table. Instead on being the ordinary wooden colour with white plates and silver cutlery, everything was now a different shade of pink. Light pink, dark pink, hot pink … the very sight of it was hilarious. The table had streamers, hearts and big pink cakes in the middle. But what was even more funny was the sight of the actual Slytherins themselves. Each now had pink robes, and 3 of the boys Lily, Hayley and Michelle hated most were climbing on top of the table. The girls grinned at each other. So far, all was going well. Lily glanced down the far end of the table where the Marauders were sitting. Each had a look of horror upon his face. Lily grinned even wider, thinking that they were shocked that their rival group had pulled off such an original prank. She turned her attention back to the Slytherin table, where Lucius Malfoy, William Avery and Severus Snape were standing, judging from the looks on their faces, against their will. Background music started and they began to sign in unnaturally high falsetto voices, their voices magically magnified.   
  
"Stupid cupid you're a real mean guy" (stupid cupid)   
  
"I'd like to clip your wings so you can't fly" (stupid cupid)   
  
"I am in love and it's a crying shame"   
  
And I know that you're the one to blame …"   
  
Almost everyone in the Hall was in hysterics now, and the girls had tears of mirth running down their faces. Soon enough, the boys finished their singing and jumped down at once as pink and red confetti came down from the ceiling, which, incidentally, was pink. Then, as the background music faded, something went horribly wrong. It looked as though somebody else had planned a prank for that night …

  
  
  
Suddenly, Snape began to shiver all over, and burst into red and orange feathers, whilst still having the pink robes stuck on him. Crying out in pain, he fell to the floor, writhing and twisting around until McGonagall stood up, extremely angry. Her knuckles where white, and her face was so red she could barely speak.   
  
"You lot. Dumbledore's office. Now."   
  
The girls and the Marauders all stood and began to leave. The student body was no longer laughing – the situation had become serious so quickly. McGonagall turned to Malfoy and Avery.   
  
"Take Mr. Snape up to the hospital wing now, please."

~*~

_How awful, _Lily reflected as she and her two friends made the familiar path to Dumbledore's office. They had been there many times before, but it had always been for small pranks, not serious like the one that had just gone horribly wrong. Lily knew how disastrous the effects of having two opposing spells cast at once could be, and the image of Severus Snape writhing around on the floor whilst the remainder of the school stood and laughed was not one that was going to evaporate any time soon. Sure, he deserved a little pranking, but to be in pain was another thing._ What an odd c incidence that the Marauders had tried to pull a prank on the same person at the same time, _Lily thought. However, the Marauders reaction to Snape in pain was very different to that of the girls'. Behind Lily, the very same group were giving each other high fives.

"Way to go guys, that was great!"   
  
"Yeah, I was worried there but it turned out even better than what we expected!"   
  
"Did you see the LOOK on his face!"   
  
The girls all rolled their eyes; none of them liked the Marauders attitude to life, and that was just plain mean. Hayley soon got sick of their boasting and wheeled around to tell them so.   
  
"You know, Snape got _hurt_ in that incident," she snapped.   
  
"Yeah, but that's what made it even better," sniggered James. Lily's blood began to boil once again.

Lily tired to keep walking and ignore the voices of the Marauders behind her, and couldn't wait until they reached Dumbledore's office. Fortunately for her, James wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight under the nose of the Headmaster. In fact, James Potter was quite smart, which lead to Lily's even greater dislike of him (that doesn't make sense, but I think you get what I mean … )   
  
When they finally reached the stone gargoyle, Lily realized that Dumbledore must have come back if she were going to be sent to his office. _Cool_ she thought, and made a mental note to speak to him about Hayley's mother's death and the strange man. They called out, and named a couple of random candies, but nobody responded. The girls did get a kick, though, when James rapped on the head of the stone gargoyle, which didn't seem to be very happy about having someone hit it repeatedly on it's heat. As a result, the gargoyle sprang to life and proceeded to try and bite James from its position in front of the door.   
  
They named some more candies, but after a while were stumped, and all slid to the floor. Finally, James said   
  
"Well, if no-one comes within the next five minutes, I'm leaving,"   
  
For one of the rare times in her life, Lily couldn't find an argument to that, so she settled with leaning against the wall and observing the Marauders with distaste. They were already discussing plans for their next prank concerning Snape.   
  
"Maybe we could .. uh .. glue him to his bed or something so he can't get out …" squeaked Peter.   
  
"Nope," replied Sirius. "We did that in third year," replied Sirius.   
  
They mused for about twenty seconds. It was quite funny, watching them all, brows furrowed, trying to think.   
  
"I know!" exclaimed James. Lily sat up a little straighter, secretly interested as to what he was planning to do.   
  
"We could turn his owl into like … a carpet python or something …"   
  
The other Marauders began to laugh, but stopped and drew breath when the gargoyles sprang to life once more, moving to admit them.   
  
"Wonder why Dumbledore would choose a password like 'carpet python'," mused Michelle, but when they all reached the top of the spiral staircase, it was not Dumbledore that greeted them, but the Head Of Slytherin, complete with bathrobe and green goo all over his face. He didn't look happy.  
  


The Marauders and the girls all froze in shock at the sight of the Head of Slytherin and potions master, Professor Baldy, standing in front of them with curlers in his long orange hair. Why was _he_ of all people standing in bathrobe with girly stuff all over his face? (A/N: no, it has nothing to do with a polyjuice potion!) It looked extremely odd and quite comical.   
  
Professor Baldy had been the Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts for quite some time, and hated the Marauders with a passion. The female fifth year population of Gryffindor weren't exactly his favorite students, either. A smile spread over Lily's face as she remembered the time when she, Hayley, Michelle and Bridget, another girl in their dorm had vanished Baldy's curly orange hair and goatee. From then on, all of the Gryffindors called him Professor _BALD –y. It took him six days to recover his vanished hair as Peeves, the school poltergeist, had felt _obliged _to zoom around all week with Baldy's vanished hair, cackling madly all he while. Lily was jolted out of her reverie when Baldy snarled   
  
"What are _you_ lot doing here?"   
  
"Where here to see Professor Dumbledore, Professor __Bald-y, sir. Why are _you_ here?" James replied quickly, much to Lily's annoyance.   
  
"Well, I'm sorry Potter, but the Headmaster is not here," Baldy sneered, not sounding very sorry at all "He's away on business,"   
  
"What kind of business, Professor _Bald_-y?" snickered Sirius.   
  
"Business that's _personal_, Black. Meaning that it doesn't concern you," Deciding he'd rather not continue the conversation, he said   
  
""Detention for all of you. In the library. Two o'clock. Tomorrow,"   
  
"But it's not term time yet!" burst Hayley. "You can't –"   
  
"Oh, but I can," Baldy grinned, making him look like a tortured koala. "I am the acting Headmaster, and I can do whatever I like. While I'm at it, 20 points from Gryffindor,"   
  
"But-"   
  
"Say another word and it'll be 50," he replied. "Now get out of my office. _Now._ "   
  
"Let's just hope Dumbledore gets back soon," whispered Michelle into Lily's ear. "If he doesn't, we're in deep kitty litter,"   
  
~*~_

~*~   
  
Later that night, or rather, early the next morning, Lily, Hayley and Michelle tried their best to creep quietly down the corridors of the west wing of Hogwarts, "tried" being the operative word in the situation. Needless to say, they weren't having very much success. Having previously placed chameleon charms on each other, they were now stumbling along in the darkness with cauldrons, potion ingredients and one hell of a heavy book. Even though they couldn't be seen by the human eye, this didn't prevent them from making as much noise as humanly possible. Unintentionally, of course. The reason why they were staggering along in the dead of the night was that all three were planning to complete and test their Animagi potions. They had previously been able to brew it in their dormitory, but they no longer felt safe in there, as it was custom for a teacher of student leader to come in to check that the room was reasonably neat. The girls felt, with reason, that this would take more than just a few minutes, and it would be a bit hard to shove all of the stuff they were carrying under a bed when someone knocked on the door if they were in their Animagi forms.   
  
There was, of course, no guarantee that this would work, and Michelle especially had serious doubts about their luck lately. Lily and Hayley snuck out to meet up; Hayley's mother died. They pull a prank on Snape; he almost died as well. Not happy, Jan. Not happy at all.

The girls kept stumbling along, looking around aimlessly for a place in which they could brew the potion and hopefully transform.   
  
When they finally reached the end of the corridor (at least, that's what they thought – no girl really knew if she was still with the other two, she had to guess by the noises they made) they almost did of fright. Not literally, though. Hayley, the graceful one of the group, tripped over the hem of her robes and fell headlong into a seemingly empty suit of armor, which fell to the stone floor with an exceedingly loud clatter, Immediately, all three girls froze.   
  
Nothing happened.   
  
No sounds of footsteps echoing on the floor.   
  
Nothing.   
  
After what seemed like an eternity, Hayley spoke, making Lily and Michelle jump.   
  
"Well, this has to be the most deserted place in the castle if Miss. Norris hasn't found us by now,"   
  
"Haven't you heard, she's _Mrs._ Norris now," smirked Lily. "She's having kittens,"   
  
Michelle and Hayley both snickered.   
  
"With who? It's not like there are many other cats here,"   
  
"How would _I_ know? It's not like I was watching or anything, you know… let's find a room to dump our stuff; I don't really care where we go anymore … "

(A/N: My friend and I were on our geography excursion today and we saw dragonflies mating. Freaky, I tell you, wasn't it, starborn? Anyway …)

  
  
  
"How about we go in here?" Lily said after a while, pointing to a door.   
  
"What door? I can't see anything but a wall," said Michelle, who by this time was tired and confused; not a good combination.   
  
"No, see?" Lily said striding up to a wooden door she saw right at the end of the corridor.   
  
"Nooo …" Hayley and Michelle said in unison.   
  
Lily sighed and pushed the door open.   
  
"Oh yeah…"   
  
"I see it now … wonder why we couldn't before…"   
  
Once they entered this mystery room though, they discovered exactly why it was hidden from most people.   
  
The room was bursting with all sorts of costumes; masks, wigs, makeup, which was pretty cool in itself, but the amazing thing was the portraits on the wall. They we all of beautiful men and women, who had been talking avidly, but froze, lifeless in their frames, as Lily entered the room.   
  
"Uh, hi?" she ventured.   
  
The people in the portraits didn't move.   
  
"Uh … we came in here by accident and…" he trailed off, but the subjects in the portraits stayed solitary.   
  
The girls just shrugged and began to set up their potions, not bothering to think about the possible danger of being in this mysterious room alone.

~*~   
  
  


"Okay guys, we only have one more bit," yawned Michelle, many potions ingredients later.   
  
"It's by far the hardest, but that's besides the point. I'll read the instructions to you," The other two girls nodded as their respective potions simmered.   
  
_"The final step to creating an Animagi potion is to add a small pinch of fairy dust whilst stirring the potion with a wand at a moderate speed, first clockwise and then counter- clockwise for five minutes exactly. Then add a hair of the person planning to become Animagi and drink immediately. If the potion is successful, the brewer will turn into the Animagi that best suits their personality. This will happen immediately, but afterward the brewer will be able to turn into their animal at will. If the brewer is Metamorphmagus, not completely human or is abnormal in any other way then this potion is not recommended _… blah blah blah," Michelle finished, looking up. "If either of you are vampires, now would be a good time to speak up,"   
  
"Nope, sorry to disappoint," grinned Lily.   
  
"I vote we do it one at a time," spoke up Hayley. "That way if something goes wrong then only one of us is stuffed,"   
  
"Three guesses for who doesn't want to go first," giggled Michelle, while Lily rolled her eyes.   
  
"Pick me! Pick me!" yelled Hayley, a little more loudly than what was needed. "I wanna go first!"   
  
"Let's do it then, and hope it doesn't go wrong," said Michelle.   
  
"Yeah, we don't want to end up in between our human and Animagi forms like a centaur!" giggled Hayley.   
  
"And then they had to go and breed," muttered Lily under her breath, causing the other two to burst into fits of laughter.   
  
"Okay, Hails, let's go,"

After what seemed like ages of brewing and mixing, all three finally had their potions ready. It was way past their usual bedtime, and although on a high from finally finishing the potion, were quickly becoming tired. Sure, they were out late at nights many times, both as a group or with respective boyfriends, but never this long, and hey - what were classes for? Sleeping in, of course! So, in the very early hours of the morning, Hayley finally got to try her potion first. She added a hair after tugging one out of her long, blonde plait, and looked doubtfully for a second at the neon green potion before taking a swig from her beaker and downing the lot.   
  
"Mmm," she said. "Tastes like - "   
  
But Lily and Michelle would have to wait a bit longer to find out exactly what it tasted like, because Hayley, standing before them, began to rapidly shrink and turn into a ...   
  
monkey?   
  
"Typical!" burst out Lily, while Michelle just giggled. "It would be so _typical_ for you to be a monkey. Honestly."   
  
But apparently, Hayley was more than your average monkey. Hayley/Monkey began to perform cartwheels, handstands and back flips, all the while glittering.   
  
"Wow ..." whispered Michelle. "She's a _magical_ monkey ..."   
  
After showing off a bit more, Hayley returned to her human form, slightly breathless.   
  
"Well," she said jubilantly. "What does THAT say about my personality?"   
  
  
After being bombarded with questions like "does it hurt?" "is it fun?" and "what did that potion taste like?" Hayley just grinned, enjoying being the all knowing one for once.   
  
"Come on! Tell us!"   
  
"No, hell yes, and strawberries."   
  
Michelle was next, and after taking a brown hair and dropping it into her potion (also neon green) she turned into a ...

Flamingo?

Yes, that's right. A bright pink flamingo. But again, Michelle had transformed successfully into a magical creature. Either that, or all fluro pink flamingos did the can-can.

After a little while of showing off while Lily and Hayley applauded, Michelle transformed back to herself, grinning.

"Wow, guys, that went really well. But they're not exactly the animal forms we planned, because a glittering monkey and a neon pink flamingo aren't going to go unnoticed out at night in the Forbidden Forest like we'd planned,"

"What's neon?" asked Hayley.

"Muggle thing," said Michelle and Lily together.

"Ah, well," continued Lily confidently. "We'll be able to find a way around that. My turn!"

"Hold your horses," interjected Shelly. "I'm still not sure whether turning into a magical creature is natural or not." She began to flip through the pages of the book, and just as Lily was about ready to take her potion regardless, Michelle revealed that the book didn't actually say whether or not the animal forms should be magical or otherwise. Lily and Hayley shrugged, and Michelle plopped down on the floor next to Hayley to watch the show of Lily transforming. All their anxiousness had disappeared by now; Lily was easily as smart as the other two, and if any of them had done the potion incorrectly, it wouldn't have been her.

Lily added her hair and downed the potion. Her body went down on all fours and she lengthened, eventually turning into a sleek, smooth …

Panther.

At least she wasn't pink. She was in fact, truly a creature of the night, barely visible unless you were looking straight at her. She seemed normal enough from her friends' perspective, her black coat was sleek and very healthy. Then Panther/Lily looked up.

On the other two girls, their markings (like the monkey had bright orange toenails that Hayley had painted during the train ride to school) had been little things. On Lily's Animagi form, however, it was evident. She had bright green, sparkling eyes. Lily had unusual eyes in her human form, but they were nowhere near as bright and definitely didn't stand out as much as when she was a panther. She looked really cool, however, and tackled Hayley from where she was sitting.

Soon, with a pop, she turned back, and Hayley and Michelle stared at her in shock.

"Shit," whispered Hayley. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

Lily wasn't splinched or a half-panther, half-human, she looked fully like her old self, except for one thing. And that one thing stood out a lot.

Her hair was no longer red. It was black, as black as a panther's, and was a whole lot shorter than what it used to be, only going down to her shoulder blades.

"What?" Lily asked suspiciously, not sure she wanted to know. What if she'd really stuffed up? Suddenly, the idea of becoming Animagi for pure fun didn't seem so crash-hot after all.

"Look at your hair, Lils," said Michelle, fearing her reaction.

Lily muttered a long string of profanity, whilst grabbing her wand and using about twenty different charms in quick succession to return it back to it's normal red. Nothing worked. Michelle immediately reverted back to the textbook, whilst Hayley just asked

"How the _hell _did that happen?"

"I dunno," said Lily, quickly panicking about something that really wasn't that big of a problem. Come on, it was hair, something she normally didn't give a damn about.

"I was thinking about how nice having black hair as a panther was, I turn back and now look at it!"

"Lils, calm down," said Michelle, not looking much better herself. "You're getting hysteric,"

"I can't help it! How am I gonna explain _this away?"_

Groaning in frustration, she wished feverently for it to return to its normal auburn colour. And guess what? It worked.

"Oh my God Lils! How did you get that back?"

"The rouge charm?"

"No," spoke a voice behind them. All three immediately whipped round to face the speaker, fearing they had been caught. Underage Animagi were almost certainly illegal, and getting caught could result in expulsion from Hogwarts.

"You're a Metamorphmagus," said one of the portraits. In fact, they were all moving now, mumbling to themselves, saying things none of the girls could hear. The aforementioned girls let out a sigh of relief; it was pretty safe to say they weren't going to be ratted on. Lily didn't believe the woman in the portrait, however.

"No I'm not. I can't be. You have to be born with the skill,"

"You changed your hair color at will," another witch spoke from the painting next to the one they had been looking at. "You can only do that if you're a Metamorphmagus. No charm could have fixed your hair if it was the result of an Animagi transformation. An _illegal_ one at that." The witch looked sternly at them over her horn-rimmed glasses. The girls blushed and looked away under her gaze. 

Lily realized how lucky she was then not to have something worse happened to her. After all, Metamorphmagus' weren't supposed to be Animagi; but she had made it through alright. But surely, she would have known by now if she really were a  Metamorphmagus, wouldn't she? Then she thought back to the time before she got her very first Hogwarts letter …

Her hair had gotten "magically" cut overnight when Lily wanted a trim but her mother wouldn't let her bet one … the disgusting pink nail polish that Petunia had forced on Lily when she was five had turned into black … All this she had put down to being magical once she got her letter; never once did she think she could change her appearance at will … the potion must have triggered something inside her that showed that she was, in fact one of the rare Metamorphmagi in the world.

All smile began to curve on Lily's lips. _This could be a whole lot of fun, _she thought.

They all stayed with the personalities in the portraits for some time, and found out why Lily had seen the door when others had not.

"It's like the Leaky Cauldron," explained the witch that had first told Lily about her new talent, who, once got started, couldn't be shut up. "Only magicals see it. All the things in this room are props, for things you can't change, like clothes. It's why we couldn't move when you came in. We weren't sure if you were Metamorphmagus or not,"

Lily kept talking to the portraits, but after a while, Hayley and Michelle, who weren't as interested, dozed off. Before they knew it, the magical alarm on Hayley's watch sounded, yelling "YOU'RE LATE FOR BREAKFAST!"

They had had little or, in Lily's case, no sleep at all, so they grabbed some toast, got changed and made it just on time to History of Magic. Not that it really mattered; it wasn't like Binns ever noticed now he was dead.

Laying their heads down on the desk, Binns' montonous drone was similar to that of a lullaby, giving Lily and Michelle time to think about the already dim events of the night (or morning) before. 

Michelle was very confused; if a person's Animagi form reflected their personality, then why the hell was she a pink flamingo?

Lily was having similar thoughts. 

_Panthers are cunning and quick on their feet. I'm not cunning!_

Meanwhile, the Marauder's were standing behind Binns, drawing caricatures of the teachers of Hogwarts on the blackboard while the Professor gave his (boring)  lecture.

_I swear, one day he's going to notice them, and Potter's sure gonna get it_ thought Lily as she drifted off to sleep.

~*~

**Meanings of Animagi forms will eventually be revealed! Contrary to my friends' belief, they DO have meanings! **

**Author thankyous:**

VoldemortsIllegitimateChild – Heh. I enjoy writing funny things; it cracks me up. Thanks for reviewing!

EbonyQuill – Yeah, I know. But what's a plot without twists? Hope you enjoy this chapter!

ZombieGurl98 – Thanks! And thanks for reviewing both of my stories ;)

Chocolate Taco – Thanks!

poetbrit – For just about the *checks* third time in my life, I didn't end the chapter with a cliffie! Go me! Thanks for reviewing!

ArtC-Fox – Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter as much as the last two!

**That's all for now!**

**If you want to be emailed when I update this story, tell me in your review or email me at snowflakelatte@hotmail.com and I'll do so. Please specify whether you want to be alerted when I update both my stories of just this one.**

**Tata!**

**snowflakey******


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